an entertainment exhibited on the theatre between the acts of a play, to amuse the spectators while the actors take breath and shift their dress, or to give time for changing the scenes and decorations.

In the ancient tragedy, the chorus sung the interludes, to show the intervals between the acts.

Interludes, among us, usually consist of songs, dances, feats of activity, concerts of music, &c.

Aristotle and Horace give it for a rule, that the interludes should consist of songs built on the principal parts of the drama; but since the chorus has been laid down, dancers, buffoons, &c. ordinarily furnish the interludes.